In which science imitates life, number 365: zones of death in public transport

I was waiting for the bus this past weekend, ridiculously early to get my son to his swimming lesson across town. Or so I thought.

We waited, and waited, and Joshua jumped up and down anxiously, looking adorable with his lobster rucksack bouncing on his back, asking over and over, “Mama, why isn’t the bus coming?”

Quite. We were rapidly reaching the point of no return, so I pulled out my phone to view the live map. There, I could see a swarm of buses studiously avoiding our position in a way that was strangely familiar: